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Unit of Assessment 34: Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and
Information Management
162. The sub-panel recognises the rich diversity of research across the Arts, Humanities and Social
Sciences in communication, cultural and media studies, library and information management, and
welcomes all outputs arising from this research, in whatever genre or medium, that can be
demonstrated to meet the definition of research for the REF (as outlined in ‘Guidance on
submissions’, Annex C). In setting out its remit, the sub-panel recognises that the UOA descriptor
covers two broad fields of research which are often distinct both organisationally and academically,
and welcomes submissions that reflect this. It also recognises that the activities covered by its remit,
even within its two broad fields of coverage, are often rooted in quite distinct research traditions or
infrastructures. It will assess research on its merits, with no penalty for research which is plainly
within a distinct tradition within the sub-panel’s remit. It will nonetheless welcome research which
seeks to engage with questions and concerns, such as the ‘information society’, heritage (both
cultural and museum aspects), networks or convergence, which may transcend field boundaries.
163. The UOA includes research that addresses or deploys theory, history, institutional, policy,
textual, critical and/or empirical analysis, or practice within communication, culture, media,
journalism, film, television and screen studies. Within UK higher education much, but not all, of this
work is likely to emanate from units or departments in communication studies, cultural studies,
media studies, journalism, or film and screen/television studies. This work will include research on
online and screen-based media (such as film, television, games and other digital forms), print media,
computer-mediated communication, digital infrastructure and platform studies focused on data and
society, diverse information and communication technologies, cultural policy, the creative industries
and popular culture, which will be variably titled and organised. The sub-panel will assess research
as defined above which addresses (but is not confined to): policy for regulation of culture and the
media and communication industries; the organisation, institutions, political economy and practice of
cultural production; media and cultural texts, forms and practices; media and cultural audiences,
consumption and reception; the role of changing technology, including emergent digital technologies,
in media production, content manipulation, distribution, access and participation. It is recognised that
this will include work which explores questions of power, identity and difference in relation to media,
communication and cultural studies which may sit at the intersections of (among others) gender and
sexuality studies, race and postcolonial studies, and disability studies.
164. The UOA also includes research concerned with the management of information and
knowledge in all formats, namely librarianship and information science, archives and records
management, and information systems. This concerns research on the generation, organisation,
dissemination and publication, exploitation, protection, and evaluation of information and knowledge,
and the impacts of such activities. It may include, for example, research that focuses on digital
humanities; digital participation; information behaviour and use; information ethics; information
literacy; information media; information policy; information retrieval; information security; information
seeking; the information society; knowledge management systems; preservation and conservation;
systems thinking; systems development; and the cultural, economic, ethical, historical, philosophical,
and societal aspects of the disciplines and their associated professions.